Criminal Justice System Essay

The components of the criminal justice system are on different levels like federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. With the major components being the police, courts, and corrections. Without the major components there would be no way to prevent or deter crimes from happening. Also would be no way to try or punish those that break and disobey the laws in place. The police department job is to maintain order, provide public services, and arrest those that break the laws. The courts job is to give all those accused of breaking the laws a chance to prove their innocence and try them. The corrections job is to carry out the courts punishment issued to the lawbreakers. They also must respect the rights of the convicted. The criminal justice system has a process that consists of five steps investigation/arrest, pretrial activities, adjudication/trial, sentencing, and corrections. The investigation/arrest part is critical in getting the lawbreaker to the sentencing portion of the process. Everything must be well documented and arrest warrants obtained if needed. A pretrial activity is done a few hours after the initial arrest. All the charges along with the person’s rights are read with at times bail being set. The subject is then given a formal court date to stand trial. Then comes the adjudication/trial, here the defendant has his day to state his case and get tried for his actions. Many of the criminal defendants never see trial as they pleaded out before trial with the district attorney. Now comes sentencing, this is the process where the judge implements the punishment. Many times those with lawyers will file an appeal, which can be complex. This is when a defendant states the rules weren’t followed in his case investigation, then the case drags along. The final step in the process is corrections, this is when the punishment issued by the court is carried out. Some of the offenders are sentenced to serve time in jail. Some serve a portion of their time and then are let

Show More